Choose your favorite oppressive power structure

[Cramulus]

Whatever you vote for gets to control the world forever.

Think about the worst case scenario for each one.

[Faust]

State power, the state should in theory represent people, religions represent the will of intangible gods, and corporations represent the will of intangible demons

[Cain]

State power, because watching the other two cry is more fun.

[altered]

State power. Both religious and corporate power have a "higher power" to appeal to when they don't want to give you a chance. State power demands the functioning of the state, and has no lower OR higher goal in the long term. The state's power is made up of the people. So in even the worst cases, there is a long view whereby the state will eventually cave to demands, e.g. by regime change.

[Bruno]

Corporate power would focus only on short term goals with little to no concern for the population until humans were extinct.

State power would at least have some investment in the idea of having someone to rule over, but would micro-manage every aspect of daily life right down to assigned breeding programs.

Religious power also would have investment in the idea of having worshipers for whatever deity, and would micro-manage the population's lives but with less logical goals and rules.

[Faust]

hehe, so in that order:
Weyland Yutani
The Party from 1984
Or Warhammer 40K

[Cramulus]

Yeah the thing I like best about state tyranny is democratic elections, but "state power" is also monarchs, insane bureaucracies, and fake elections.

with corporate power, you end up with slavery, and those doors from Ubik that won't let you out of your own house until you insert a nickel.

with religious power, you get an attempt to control one's inner world, criminalization of experiences and impulses, power that rests on the wholly intangible


I almost added a "mob rule" option but I thought that would be too easy -- although that dystopia includes lynchings and having people surround your house for days, taking dumps on your lawn, because you wrote an article criticizing mob rule

[altered]

The end extreme of mob rule is random violence, but there isn't much power to drive that in that kind of world, so it would require a general population wide agreement to murder people.

In other words, what would happen if you stranded cops on an island.

[altered]

More seriously, I considered Nazi Germany the end result of state power gone mad. In theory it can get worse, just not for me.

Corporate and religious power enables all the same abuses as Nazi Germany, but disguised as "the invisible hand of the free market" and "the will of god". That sort of dishonesty prevents any attempt to engage with it. Nazis are vile, but their very atrociousness enables people to recognize they're horrible.

The state only has power so long as there are in fact people to rule. The people aren't the source of the power, they are that power, as they don't merely have the state's edicts enforced on them, but help enforce the same.

State power always includes room for adaptation. There is no invisible hand of the free market, or a god, so there is a final, unquestionable place you can pass the buck to. "We'll see what the market says." "Pray to god and see if he answers." The final seat of power is a real person, or a document set down by same, in any state.

[Doktor Howl]

Caveat:  I get to choose the religion.

[The Johnny]

Well, we're already under corporate power, so a religious tyranny at least would make me feel edgy and special. Would also be interesting how in the fuck they would pull it off in the 21st century.

[methbong]

Religion by far. The worst part of State/Corporate tyranny is they dont believe in any of it. Theyll crush your entire life and put out a fucking meticulously lawyer approved press release that doesnt even say anything. At least under Religious tyranny Id know I was getting dumped into a mass grave by someone whos passionate about killing me. Someone who thinks hes getting eternal life and his own personal harem for killing me. The state death squad is just killing me because some guy in an office signed a paper, and the corporate death squad is just killing me so they meet their quota and get an office pizza party.

[P3nT4gR4m]

State power - Dull, bureaucratic and unsustainable
Corporate power - (Current) Really fucking easy to game
Religious power - Really fucking easy to game but it'd be a welcome change of pace so I'm voting for this

[Dildo Argentino]

So what would you call a benevolent Buddhist theocracy running a chill subsistence economy with no private property beyond personal effects? I guess you could call that all three.

[The Johnny]

So what would you call a benevolent Buddhist theocracy running a chill subsistence economy with no private property beyond personal effects? I guess you could call that all three.

It's called Canada.